Tamper-proof water-meter.



No. 855,190. PATENTED MAY 28, 1907.

. G. E. LOBTZER.

TAMPER PROOF WATER METER.

APPLICATION FILED IAB..13.1906.

wanmm I UNiT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN E. LOETZER, OF SAYRE, PENNSYLVANIA.

TAMPER-PROOF WATER- METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1907.

Application filed March 13,1906. Serial No. 305,852.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN E. LOETZER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sayre, in the county of Bradford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Tamper-Proof Water-Meter; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In cities and towns where water is supplied and charged to consumersby measure, the water companies or municipalities are often defrauded of revenue by unscrupulous persons tam ering with the water-meters or set-- ting bac the registers thereof to record a flow of water less than the actual consumption.

I in which the register is contained in a moveism from the actuating mechanism of the meter, and then set back or reverse the register to any desired extent; whereupon the register-mechanism may be again connected or geared with its actuating-mechanism and the movement-box or cap replaced, leaving the meter in substantially the same condition, so far as appearancesare concerned. To detect suchunscrupulous practices, recourse has been made to sealing the joint between the movement-box and shell of the meter, or to afiixing seals over the-bolts, screws or other fastenings between the move- Inent-box and shellTso as-to make its impossible to detach the movement-box without destroying the seal. breaking of the seal, which mi ht be accounted for in various ways, aflor s evidence simply that the seal has been broken, and hence this measure is by no means sure and is certainly not preventive.

,The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide practicable means for preventing access to the register and improper manipulation' thereof by dishonest consumers, by protecting the movement-box or cap con- This deceit is comparatively easy to accomplish with the meters in ordinary use,

But obviously the The invention being applicable to the va rious styles of water-meters now in use, and susceptible of embodiment in different forms, I have illustrated two desirable embodiments of the invention in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, showing the contrivanceapplied to two different well-known styles of water-meters.

Figure 1 is a sectional perspective view of the upper part of one style of meter, in which the movement-box or cap containing the register is mounted directly upon the top of the shell or casing which contains the measuring chamber and disks or other acting mechanism (not shown) and gearing for transmitting motion to the register. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the upper part of another style of meter, in which the movement-box is mounted upon a cup-shaped extension at the top of the shell or casing of the measuring- .part of the shell or case, which contains the usual measuring-chamber and working parts (not shown), together with the intermediate gearing for actuating the register, a portion of such gearing being indicated at B.

The letter C designates the movement-box or cap, with its cover and dial glass, and containing the register D. those familiar with such apparatus that the register D is actuated from the measurin mechanism within the shell or case A throng the medium of the intermediate gearing B and its spindle b, said spindle 1) extending up through a stufiing-box in the top of the shell and having a pinion b meshin with a pinion or gear I) of the register-mec anism.

It is understood by IOO - i .In Fig. 1, the bottom plate (1 of the register rising from t cap is secured to the shell by bolts, screws or similar fastenings, a person desiring to et at the register and set back the dial woul sim ply have to 'unfasten the bolts or screws of 'the cap C, take off said cap, and disconnect the gear I) from the pinion b; which, in the case of a meter of the. style shown in Fig. 1,

would be accom lished by taking out one of the screws 01 and turning the register to dis-' 7 connect said gears b and b,',while, in the case of a meter in the style shown in Fig. 2,

-the register would only have to be raised to lift the gear I) out of mesh with the'pinion b. To prevent this tampering, the movementbox or cap 0 is, according'to my invention,

rigidly and racticallypermanently secured upon the she I Aby a concealed fastening such as to elude the efforts of any ingenious or prying individual, and is given virtually the appearance of an integral construction or formation with the shell itself. The cap has at its lower end an internal screw-threaded portion or female screw 1, desirably leftanded, engaging an exteriorly-thre'aded boss or male screw 2 on the shell, preferably at the to of the shell; and when the cap is screwed own in lace its lower end fits flush against an ann ar shoulder 3 around the base of said male screw 2 the outer surfaces ofthe cap and shell being flush or continuous all around, so thatno fasteningl is visible, except the fine joint between t e cap and shell. Any transexion or other equivalent construction may be adopted, the cap having a reduced male screw'engagin in a female screw at the. top of the shell. small pin or screw 4, preferably a headless screw, is inserted throu h the lower part of the cap and the threade in the present instance the screw 4 being in sertedthrough' a-lateral aperture in the lower part of the cap and tapped into a threaded ore in the boss 2"; thereby providing a positive lock to prevent the unscrewing of the cap. The aperture 5 is desirably larger than the diameter of the screw 4, in order to admit 'atool for engaging and inserting or Wlthdrawing the screw 4 at the factory or shops, and for the further purpose of receivingL a seal, plug or disk 6, of lead, putty, or ot er boss 2, so as'to' transfix the screw fastening between the cap and shell ,4

/ installing suitable material, which is forced into said aperture to fill the same and seal the pin or screw4, the outer surface of the seal 6 being smooth and continuous with the outer surface of the cap itself. The whole shell and cap are painted or enameled so as to present the appearance of an integral structure, the coating of igment completely hiding the seal 6 as we 1 as the close joint between the cap and shell, which joint 'may be filled with white lead or other suitable material if needed;

.It will be seen that this contrivance, which makes the cap substantially a permanent fixture and conceals the mode of its attachment, will effectually elude the inquisitivenessof an ordinary person and thwart his efforts to obtain access to the register-mechanis'm, thus virtually insuring the register a ainst improper manipulation. In the first p ace, the close fitting joint between the shell and cap, as wellas the outer surface of the seal 6, being smooth and hidden by the coat of paint or enamel, there is no clue to enable the consumer to detect the contrivance.

to be a separate part, and endeavor to ascertain whether it could be unscrewed from the shell, he would be thwarted in his efforts by reason of the small pin or screw 4 transfixing the threaded connection between the cap and shell. Should he perchance discover the seal 6, and have sufficient insight to investigate its meaning, he-must then break and tear out the seal, giving very strong evidence of an attempt to cheat the meter, not explainable by any of the excuses usually offered, and even then, should he detect the fastenin pin or screw 4, he could detach it only wit great difiiculty. And finally, after detachin the fastening pin or screw 4, assuming t at 'he also finds out that he must unscrew the cap, the chances are that he will attempt to unscrew it in the usual manner, and the screw-threads being preferably left- But should he believe the,movementboX or cap handed, his efiorts will only serve to screw up the cap all the tighter. Thus the contrivance presents such obstacles against the de-' tachment, of the cap'as to practically insure the register against improper manipulation, while yetproviding means for detachment of the cap in the factory or shops, in case of repair, it being understood that the meters are always repaired at the shops, after which they are reassembled and' repainted before them again.

It wil be understood that various modifications may be made in details of construction and arrangement without departingf from the scope of my invention, which, as

before noted, is susceptible of embodiment in various forms.

Hav ng thus fully described my invention, I

what I claim as new and desire to secure by "Letters Patent of the United States is In a water-meter, the combination with the shell or case for the actuating mechanism, 5 said shell having an annular threaded boss thereon, of the movement-box or cap mounted on said shell and having an annular threaded portion engaging with said boss,

the female screw-member being provided 10 with a lateral hole,- and a fastening pin inserted through said hole and into themale CHRISTIAN E. LOETZER.

Witnesses:

GEO. E. LUcE, GEO. D. BONFAEY. 

